Penn, Northridge take team titles; individual crowns split at Ox Bow Park

Penn and Northridge swept the four conference team championships at Ox Bow Park, but the individual NIC and NLC titles went to runners from four different schools.

GOSHEN, Ind. — Penn and Northridge owned the team hardware at the conference cross country championships at Ox Bow Park on Saturday, Oct. 3, as Penn swept the Northern Indiana Conference boys and girls titles and Northridge did the same in the Northern Lakes Conference. All four individual championships, though, were won by runners from different schools.

Penn senior Lila Van Hoveln opened the day by winning the NIC girls race in 18:15.38, a continuation of her strong season. Behind her, the Kingsmen packed places one through five at the conference meet for the first time in school history, producing a perfect score of 15. Junior Sami Pentelow completed the sweep in fifth at 19:55.90, three seconds ahead of New Prairie junior Janice Felker.

Van Hoveln, who is committed to Central Michigan, said there was no pressure on the Kingsmen, who relaxed by listening to music together before the start. Pentelow said she relied on perseverance step by step and that the team is racing to make its seniors proud this fall. Van Hoveln added that she is savoring her final races and already looks forward to returning to watch Penn compete next year as a college freshman.

The NIC boys individual title went outside the Penn program, as New Prairie senior Braden Bachmann ran a personal best of 15:47.87 to defeat Kingsmen sophomore Jacob Sullivan by nearly 30 seconds. It was his third major win of the season after victories at the NIC Stomp and the Class AA New Prairie Invitational. Penn still captured the team championship easily with 20 points, with its runners filling places two through seven.

Bachmann said he treated the race as one to attack from the gun and credited Penn's runners for pushing and motivating him all season. Kingsmen coach Chad Wetzel finished the regular season having met his goal of leaving every meet with a trophy, and he welcomed having both conferences at Ox Bow because it offered a look at future regional opponents. Northridge beat Penn for a regional championship last season, and while the Raiders have a new look this year, Saturday showed they remain a threat.

In the NLC boys race, Northridge freshman Andyn McClane led for most of the way before Goshen senior Levi Schlegel matched him over the last mile. The two ran side by side down the final straightaway until Schlegel surged to the win in 15:57.06, celebrating with his arms up at the line. It was his second consecutive major individual title, coming 30 seconds faster than his Class AAA New Prairie Invitational victory.

Northridge still took the NLC boys team championship with 39 points, backed by four runners in the top 10. Raiders coach Ryan McClane, Andyn's father, deflected credit for his son's performance in his first high school season, calling the freshman remarkably focused and driven and saying he had never seen him sprint like that to finish a race.

The Raiders completed their sweep in the NLC girls race, where sophomore Brayleigh Adams won in 18:44.09 and Northridge scored 29 points with four runners in the top 10. Adams bounced back from a disappointing Class AAA New Prairie Invitational by cutting nearly 90 seconds off that time.

Attention now turns to the IHSAA state tournament, where Van Hoveln has three races left and Penn could extend its trophy run through the first two rounds. Bachmann's win also showed that when sectional and regional competition arrives, a runner from outside the Kingsmen pack has a real shot at an individual crown.